Virat Kohli not the best batsman in the world: Muhammad Yousuf

Former Pakistan captain Muhammad Yousuf has declared England’s Joe Root as currently the best batsman in the world.

Overlooking India’s run machine Virat Kohli and South African Ab de Villiers, Yousuf said that he believed Root was the the best in the world at the moment after his monumental 254 against Pakistan in the second Test at Manchester.

“He is the best batsman in all three formats of the game. His balance, his shot selection and his timing all work well together and his double hundred against Pakistan at Old Trafford was a gem of an innings,” Yousuf said on Monday.

“Root has been around for just a few years but already his batting averages in all three formats speaks for his class,” he said. The Pakistani batsman said there was also no doubt about the class of Kohli or de Villiers but in his personal opinion Root was number one. Kohli also slammed a double hundred in the first Test against West Indies at Antigua last week.

Yousuf, himself a top batsman who appeared in 90 Tests and 288 one-day internationals, said that the common factor between Root, Kohli and de Villiers were that they were all equally comfortable playing in any format of the game.

“I have always said that if a batsman can be successful at Test level he can be successful in any format. I think the way Root or the others get runs consistently it proves my point,” he added. Yousuf said Pakistan’s batting woes were mainly because they were searching for specialist batsmen for different formats.

“I think our batsmen find it difficult to cope whenever the pitch has some bounce and movement. The pitch prepared for the second Test in Manchester is good for batting and England showed this with their big totals,” he said.

“Our batsmen have struggled because of the bounce and the fact that most of them are not trying to dominate the bowlers.

A quality batter just does not hang around to get 50 or 100 he should be dominating the bowlers in his innings the way Root did in both innings.”
PTI